"It has been the misfortune of this age, that everything is to be discussed, as if the constitution of our country were to be always a subject rather of altercation than enjoyment." - Edmund Burke anticipates the Neverendum

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Cameron on Brown

His critique is, apparently, that Brown is too much of a 'top-down' sort of dude:

"We ask what people can do, what society can do.

That's the big difference between us and Gordon Brown.

His answer to crime, his answer to education, his answer to everything - is a top-down government scheme."

David Cameron, we are to understand, is into bottom-up, de-centralising, 'government doesn't always know best' goodness. Then he announces that if he gets the No. 10 gig, he's going to dictate how schools organise themselves with some crap about a 'grammar stream':

"In an apparent olive branch to his critics in the party who have opposed his stance on selective education, Mr Cameron promised more setting and streaming in secondary schools, with a "grammar stream" in every subject to ensure bright pupils are stretched and all youngsters are taught at the correct level for them.[...]But during a question and answer session, Mr Cameron was challenged on how he intended to reconcile an earlier call for greater parental choice over their child's education with plans to impose streaming in schools.

Mr Cameron insisted that "pressure for setting" within comprehensive schools was coming from parents themselves."

In education policy, at least, the 'big difference' here falls somewhere between pretty microscopic and completely invisible, if you ask me.

The other thing I wondered is if all these parents who are apparently importuning our Dave with demands for setting know the difference between this and streaming. Because it's by no means clear that David Cameron does.

Liked the idea of 'stretching pupils' though. Discipline's all but collapsed since they banned the rack in schools.